Related articles

Mr Achkar’s decision to effectively exploit the look of young women has split opinion (Image: EPA)

He added: “Why would we hire ugly girls?”

Among the new hires, there is Chloe Khalife, 19.

Speaking to The Economist, she said she believes to be an example of Lebanon’s open society.

But feminist organisations disagree with her point of view, arguing the country is still ruled by some barbaric laws.

Lina Abirafeh, director of the Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World, said: “It’s a cheap PR exercise that only serves as a reminder of how far from equality, rights and respect we really are.”

Feminist organisations blasted the decision of the Mayor (Image: EPA)

According to the country’s rules, rapists can marry their victims if they are aged between 15-17.

And the courts ruling on divorce and child custody cases still follow religious laws, discriminating women against men and making difficult for an abused wife to leave a violent husband.

This is not the first time the Ministry of Tourism uses women to promote the country.

In 1975, before the beginning of the civil war, they bought an advert in Playboy magazine where a woman in bikini promised tourists to make their “Arabian Nights fantasy” true.

The mountain town of Broumana is located 12 miles from the country’s capital, Beirut.

The mountain town of Broumana is located 12 miles from Beirut (Image: EPA)

Thanks to its relatively cool climate and natural beauties, it has historically attracted both Lebanese visitors for day and weekend trips and Arab tourists looking forward to escaping the heat of the Persian Gulf.

The number of people visiting Lebanon plunged in 2013, where the 2,168,000 arrivals recorded in 2010 was slashed to 1,274,000.

Among the reasons that saw the number of visitors almost drying out, there were the escalation of the war in neighbouring Syria and the hundreds of people killed in bombings and assassination during that period of time.

But according to the Minister of Tourism and latest data, the country is recovering.

Avedis Guidanian said: “I know the region is going through very difficult times, but Lebanon has gotten lucky.”